


Watch Your Step, Lest You Fall

by Snowsheba



Series: a shipping challenge, Dave edition (ON HIATUS) [7]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human/Troll Society, Karkat is a revolutionary leader, M/M, contains random OCs that don't matter, everyone does really, so does Sollux, some violence, the Striders work for this revolution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-04
Updated: 2014-01-04
Packaged: 2018-01-07 07:52:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1117383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowsheba/pseuds/Snowsheba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your name is Dave Strider. </p><p>You work for the head honcho of the counter-hemospectrum revolution, or whatever it's called. Your partner's name is Sollux Captor. You're both very good at doing whatever aforementioned head honcho Karkat wants done. Sure, sometimes things get dicey and you have to abort the mission, but it's not like you ever worry about it all too much - you've got Captor's back and he's got yours. </p><p>You're <em>almost</em> surprised when you start thinking you might want a little more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Watch Your Step, Lest You Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Some Davesol or Soldave or AppleBee2 or whatever this ship is called for you Homestuck shippers out there. 
> 
> Honestly, I don't know where I was planning to go for this fic. It's kind of weird. I guess it's just that whenever I write something right now, I'm not happy with it, kind of like how artists can draw all day and then dislike every single one of their pictures.
> 
> Or maybe I'm just not feeling this pairing as much. Which is also weird because I totally ship it.
> 
> Eh.

“Hurry it _up_ , Sol, we ain’t got all the time in the world here _._ ” No exclamation point is needed; your tone, harsh and grating and words forced through gritted teeth, says all you need it to.

“Shut up, fuckwit, I’m doing it as fast as I can.” He cuts off the words with a curse, hissing in frustration as wires snap and metal fuses and switches click.

At the moment, though, you don’t spare him any pity, instead shouting back at him, “Says the guy not currently protecting someone’s sorry ass!” You yelp as you narrowly avoid a troll’s scythe, before you slice the handle in half and stab them in the chest, feeling bone crunch and hearing them let out a shuddering gasp.

“Christ, you’d think I’m activating a bomb or something!” Sollux yells, and when you flash a look behind at him, you see his fingers flying so quickly through the air they are a blur. The contraption at his feet lights up and begins to hum ominously, counting down from sixty. “This doesn’t happen like magic, you know!”

“Yeah, well – fuck!” you yell as you gut the incoming troll after a few complex butterfly motions and whirl to nearly sever the head of another. Your sword breaks, and quick as lightning you drop the hilt like it’s hot and get another from your sylladex. “I ain’t gonna be able to hold these shits off for much longer, you get?”

“Jesus, calm down, Strider, I’m fucking done!” You heard several slams as the laptop closes, is tucked into its case, and then clicks as everything is locked down. The ticking remains, and a quick glance back reveals thirty seconds are left. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Fucking finally,” you shout at the ceiling as you begin to back towards where you know the door is. Sollux stands behind you, keeping his psionics to a minimum to avoid destroying the building around you as you protect him from coming foes. “Tell me when!”

More backing up, more grunting, more slashing; finally you hear the door open along with a screamed, “When!” ( _smartass_ ) and you turn tail and run for it. There are triumphant yells and screeches behind you, right up until you slam the door shut and jam your sword under the knob. It won’t hold for long, shitty as the blade is, but it’s long enough for you to turn to Sollux and follow him as he sprints down the long, empty hallway.

“Where to now?” you holler as you go.

“Away!”

 _Of fucking course_ , you grumble to yourself as you neatly pivot to turn a corner, using the walls to push yourself in the new direction. Yells echo in your ears as you sprint, the door now far behind busting open with a thump and crackle of wood, and you can only laugh somewhat hysterically as you see where Sollux is leading to you. 

“We gonna jump?” you shout, and he spares a quick glance behind him, fangs jutting out at odd angles as he smirks at you.

“Scared, Strider?”

“Hell no, man, but after you!”

As the words escape your mouth, his arms are eagle-spread and he’s gone, jumped right out the cracked window and you’re quick to throw yourself after him, trusting him with all your heart that he’ll catch you. He does, and the two of you are lowered gently to the ground in a crackle of blue and red as the bomb your partner set goes off. The two of you tear down the streets, cackling as debris rains down behind you, and make a beeline for headquarters.

“I’d say mission a-fucking-ccomplished,” you manage to get out, sprinting until you catch up with him and then keeping his pace. He is much taller and ganglier, with longer legs lending him a larger stride, but he doesn’t work out and you can tell he’s tired. “Think Karkat’ll throw a hissy fit?”

“Who knows,” he huffs, grinning, and you exchange a fist bump before sprinting all the way back to the base.

* * *

There are the cons of being a hitman, and then there are the perks. They usually are good enough that the sting of being yelled at by both your oldest brother and your boss doesn’t hurt as much, but it really depends on where you go after a mission – i.e. if food is involved, then there are no complaints.

“It seemed unfair that your brother had to get on your case too,” Sollux says. He had invited you to go to the local café with him, after witnessing your thorough chewing-out by the Bro and Karkat combo. Definitely one of the perks, having a good partner. For all that he isn’t of your species, he’s the best partner you’ve had, and that’s in comparison to Rose (possibly the best cat thief on the planet). “I mean, we did what they asked, so they could’ve been a little more grateful about the whole thing.”

“Yeah, but we got chased by a whole crowd of trolls, all of which supposed to not realize we were there,” you say, taking a sip of the shitty coffee in the mug you have in your hand, “And then I ended up killing a bunch of them before we destroyed the building.”

“Ehehe. Which gave us somewhat a bad name, I guess.”

“Aaaaand we totally lost the second laptop and that got Karkat and Dirk pissed yeah no, it was pretty bad for all it was a success.” You sigh and he chuckles. Karkat and him had grown up together and were best friends (but not moirails? Whatever, you trust Rose’s word on the matter), so his whole admonishment was way less severe than yours. “Both of my bros think I’m not exactly the best material for our line of work. Maybe they're right.”

“Eh, they’re always tight about that sort of thing, I wouldn’t let it get to you,” Sollux says with a flap of his hand.

“Easy for you to say,” you tell him flatly, and he does that little sniffle-snort of his, the one he does when he’s laughing sarcastically. You hate how your heart flutters at the sound. Goddammit, heart. “You weren’t the one getting brutally murdered with obscene metaphors and nonsensical similes.”

“Hey, you’re still alive. Besides, we did accomplish the mission. They can’t ask for much else from us.”

“Except to do it better.”

“Yeah, well, that’s why we leave the politics up to them.” 

He grins at you, and you can’t help but grin back. Good friend, you think. Best partner.

* * *

* * *

TA: 2o waiit, you’re under hou2e arre2t?  
TG: not officially but yeah pretty much  
TA: what’2 ‘not offiiciially’ 2uppo2ed two mean?  
TG: it mean bros a dick and he wont let me out of the apartment  
TG: aint the first time though so w/e  
TA: you guy2 are 2o weiird.  
TG: ha ha you dont know the least of it captor  
TG: so yeah anyway sorry i cant do the cafe lunch thing i was looking forward to seeing aradia  
TA: iit’2 ok. 2he can meet up next week two, iif you aren’t 2tuck iin your hou2e then.  
TG: god i hope not  
TG: this place is full of smuppets and traps i swear bro is trying to kill us  
TA: us?  
TG: yeah basically bros not happy and thats all there is to say on the matter  
TG: good thing dirks pretty chill hes good at distracting bro while i spring the trap without us in it  
TG: that didnt make much sense did it oh well  
TA: not really. ii2 there any way you could break out?  
TG: conceivably  
TG: if i did some major stuntwork and got dirk to cover for me then yes it would be possible  
TG: but we both know that isnt going to happen and bro would kill me  
TA: ehehe.  
TA: lucky for you ii ju2t happen to be walkiing near your humble abode. 2tandby.  
TG: uh  
TG: that doesnt sound good what are you planning on doing  
TG: captor  
TG: captor hello  
TG: wtf just happened the front door just blasted in what the hell are you trying to pull  
TG: oh my god sollux youre either a moron or a genius and im going to die when i come back but who the fuck cares  
TG: take me away prince charming swoon

* * *

“I am _so_ dead.”

Sollux laughs at you, and you laugh with him because damn, Bro is going to be so pissed (and probably is really pissed, too). Fortunately your troll partner had kept the damage confined to the door and it was still in one piece, so all you’d have to do would be to reattach it by its hinges when you got back. But who cares! You’re free! For a little bit, anyway.

“Worry about it later, Strider. AA will be at the café in ten minutes.”

“Well shit then son, we’d better run,” you say with a crooked grin, and he snorts but follows you as you break into a lenient jog.

After a few minutes, he speaks up. “So.”

“So,” you agree. A few seconds later you relent and say, “Fine, thanks for breaking me out, Captor. ‘Course, with my luck Dirk didn’t get out and is facing the brunt of Bro’s righteous fury.”

“Ye of little faith,” Sollux snickers, nimbly avoiding your halfhearted punch. “I’d honestly be surprised if he didn’t get out during the chaos. Quit your worrying, you’re not a lusus.”

“Easy for you to say,” you mutter, and his hand claps your shoulder, startling you into slowing to a walk. You twist your neck to look back at him as his thumb begins to dig into your skin, rubbing small, soothing circles into your flesh, and you realize that yeah, you are actually very tense right now and that feels pretty good.

“Calm down,” he says in all seriousness, eyes glinting with something hidden. “Don’t make me shooshpap your ass.”

“I’m a human, it wouldn’t have the same effect,” you tell him, _not that I would mind babe_. You blink and force your thoughts elsewhere, and so you end up wondering how he is keeping his claw from cutting you as he gives you an impromptu massage.

“Irrelevant. Stop freaking out, you’re not going to die.”

“Ahaha. One can hope.” This time he actually slaps your shoulder and you wince. “Yeah, okay, I get it. It’s cool, I’m not freaking out anymore. As much. Yeah.”

“Just enjoy yourself, dude, you can worry about it in full later.”

“Right.” You give him a dark look as you tell him, “But when I do go back, you’re coming with me.”

“Of course,” he says, like there was no question about it. He’s giving you a lopsided, toothy smile as he tells you, “What are partners-in-crime for?”

His hand suddenly feels very warm and very much _there_ on your shoulder, and your heart flips exactly once.

... Shit.

* * *

* * *

“Got it,” you say, and when you turn to find him staring at you. “What?”

“Um.” He gestures vaguely at you and you raise your eyebrows, tucking the rolled-up paper into the bag you’d brought specifically for the classified memo. “Your, uh. Your back.”

You twist your neck in an attempt to peer at what he said and find the back of your suit jacket is ripped to shreds. It actually gives you a kind of awesome look, if a bit haggard and weird – okay, so maybe not as awesome as you first thought. That’s too bad. Also this was your favorite black suit, goddammit. “Huh. Wonder when that happened.” You wonder why you didn’t notice before now.

“No, not the jacket.” You give him another look that says _get to the point_ and he shifts his weight on his feet. His expression, at first a very odd one, becomes astonished as he asks dubiously, “You can’t feel it?”

“Feel what?”

“You must have nerves of steel, because you’re bleeding.”

“I am?” And then out of nowhere _ow what the hell_ yes you are definitely bleeding, ow ow ow. “Fuck me, I am. Shit. Does it look bad?”

“Can’t, uh. Can’t really tell with your clothes in the way.”

“Well then go check instead of just standing there like a tool, douchecanoe,” you say (thank you for your creative insults John), your eyebrows quirking upwards another degree when he doesn’t move. “You’ve seen blood before, what’s the problem now?”

“It’s red.”

“Uh, yeah,” you say, getting a little uncomfortable now. He's seen you bleed before - he already knows your blood is red. Then again, this might be a bigger deal because there is probably a shit-ton of blood oozing down your skin right now and soaking into your clothes. Yuck. “That’s a thing with humans.”

“It’s bright fucking _red_.”

“Yeah, that’s already been established, Tholluckth.”

“Shut up.” You do, because he looks so very frazzled, for whatever reason. “It’s like Karkat’s.”

“Look, I’d love to discuss this with you, but if you can’t check it right now it can’t be that bad, so might I remind you that we’re ass-deep in enemy territory. Later, okay.” He doesn’t move, so you stand up straighter, go up to him, and yank his chin so he looks at you. “ _Okay_?”

“R-right. Yeah.”

You don’t miss the quiver in his voice, and for some reason this bothers you as you leave the building stealthily and quietly.

* * *

At base, you’ve just carefully removed your shirt in your quarters when there’s a knock on your door. You’re kind of bleeding still, well you think so anyway, and you are currently shirtless, so it might not be a good idea to answer in case you scar some newbie for life or something. Then again, that actually sounds like a good use of time.

With that resolve in mind you go to answer the door, swinging it open and grimacing as the motion pulls on the muscles in your back, and welp it’s Sollux. He stands there kind-of-sort-of gaping at your chest and abs, both of which were lean and ripped thank you very much, and the silence becomes slightly awkward as you raise an eyebrow and wait for him to say something.

“Are you gonna help me get cleaned up or do you still need to ogle a bit more?” you ask him dryly when he fails to speak after fifteen seconds, and you refuse to admit the yellow blush that rises to his cheeks is becoming. Sollux is not attractive in any way, nope, he’s way to skinny and gangly and tall and lean and hilarious and pretty in an elfin way when he tilted his head at that angle and smart and god _dammit_ , brain, you have it bad. You step aside to let him in, should he chose to enter.

He does come into your room, and it’s a clear sign of trust when you sit on your bed and turn your back to him and he takes over with the wet cloth you were planning to somehow smear on yourself without actually seeing what you were doing. This is a perfect opportunity for him to stab you in the back, literally, and as fighters for the counter-revolution, that wouldn’t really be an unlikely occurrence. But you know he wouldn’t, and he knows you know as well.

“How did you even do this to yourself?” he asks after only about five seconds, and you hiss when he rubs a bit too hard, earning yourself a muttered apology. “Your skin is literally cut into ribbons, Christ.”

“Beats me. I didn’t even notice until you pointed it out, remember.”

He huffs a little laugh. “True.” You have to resist the urge to shiver when his fingers touch your skin, stroking the areas near what you now know are substantial slashes in your flesh. “Gonna be honest here, DV, they look pretty damn bad.”

“How reassuring,” you say dryly, and after a few moments he starts cleaning the skin again rather than just – just touching it, you guess. Not that you minded all that much, because like you said before, Sollux isn’t going to hurt you (and it does feel kind of nice _nope not going there_ ). But the cuts throb with a pulsing sort of pain that indicates they’re going to hurt for a while, so you’d really like them cleaned. “Do you think I’ll get an infection?”

“Unlikely, unless you roll around in a mud pit in the near future.” When he sets the cloth aside, you turn your head to see it’s caked with brown dried and fresh red blood as well. “You have any bandages?”

“I’m gonna look like I broke every single rib in my ribcage,” you grumble as you hand the roll to him, having previously fetched it and placed it on your pillow, and you sit patiently with your arms raised as he trails it around and around your torso. “Thanks for this, by the way. Would’ve taken forever without you.”

“Yeah, well,” you can’t see his expression when he ducks his head, ripping the end of the bandage with a claw and tying it off, “What are friends for. And I was being an asshole, so.”

“What, for freaking out about my blood?” You have to resist the urge to laugh as you turn to look at him. “Aw, dude, seriously, that’s nothing to get even remotely worried about.”

He doesn’t seem to hear you as he goes on, “It’s especially stupid because I’m the mutant troll here and all that, and I knew humans have red blood, but I still froze up for whatever fucking reason.”

“Wait.” What. “You’re a mutant?”

“Obviously.”

“Really?” you say, and he ducks his head again. You wonder if you said something wrong, and like the dumbass you are you keep rolling with it because fuck yeah, own those mistakes. (Goddammit again, brain.) “Apparently it’s not obvious enough.”

“Sure.” Long awkward pause, definitely said the wrong thing, huzzah, and then he clears his throat. “Anyway, since you didn’t really talk to me afterwards, and you looked kind of annoyed, take this as my apology.”

“Well, this – ” You make a show out of pointing to your back, earning you a fang-toothed smile – “Kinda hurt, so that doesn’t really surprise me all too much that I looked pissed. And I’ve already told you, it’s fine.”

“Still. Sorry.”

“Dude.” He doesn’t look at you, so you physically reach over and push his chin up, meeting his eyes through your shades and his bicolored lenses. _Being a little forward there, Strider, you gonna dial it back?_ The answer is no, and your heart starts to pound.

Your hand doesn’t leave from his face as you stare at each other. He makes no move to push it away, even as you say a little distractedly, “It’s really not a problem, so don’t worry about it, ‘k.”

He nods, and after a few seconds you move your hand away from him, just a few inches. You see his eyes flick over to track your fingers as you carefully move them towards his glasses. You pause, _last chance to stop me, bro_ , and he doesn’t react when you take his lenses and settle them into his wiry black hair. One red eye and one blue eye with no discernible pupil or iris look back at you, and it takes a few moments for you to remember to pull away. _Mutant, indeed._

“My turn,” he breathes, so quietly you hardly hear it, and it takes an insane amount of willpower to not swat his clawed hand away as he delicately lifts your shades from the bridge of your nose. As you did with his, he places them in your hair, and then, as yours did, his hand lingers by your face for a few moments.

You try so very hard to hide the emotion that you know is showing in your eyes as he strokes your cheek, and somehow, it feels right when you reach up and run a finger over his jawline, trace the sharp angle of his ear, and then he _lets_ you touch his horn, and he lets out some sort of raspy purring noise when you do and his hand stills very briefly on your skin.

Yeah.

Yeah, you have it so bad for this troll, your heart is racing and his hair is soft and he’s purring softly and his skin is warm against yours. Good partner, you think. Best friend. (And maybe more.)

* * *

* * *

Sollux’s voice crackles into your ear, and you freeze in place as you listen. “Enemy turning corner of the hallway ETA ten seconds, heading for office. _Hide_.”

You look around frantically before diving for the wardrobe, tucking yourself into a ball in the corner between it and the wall before you press an finger to your comm. “Sollux, please tell me you have an idea of how I should proceed,” you hiss, holding completely still as the troll enters her office a few  seconds later. You keep the communication device active as you cross your fingers and hope you’re not seen.

His voice is softer now as he responds to your query. “If the troll doesn’t leave within fifteen minutes, knock her out and go out the office window – it’s a twenty-story drop, but the window below is open at the moment and I'm fairly sure you can climb down as necessary. If she leaves, proceed as planned. If you’re seen, abort and do whatever you have to and get the hell out of Dodge.”

There’s knocking on the door and you barely breathe as you tell him, “More people are coming in.”

The line is silent for a few awful seconds, as the troll honcho greets her guests. “Sending backup,” Sollux says at last. “Don’t move, don’t be seen, don’t be caught. Whatever you do, do not get caught.”

“Roger,” you whisper, and your finger does not move from your comm as the lead troll seats her guests before the desk she sits behind. Any movement now could cost you your cover, and you breathe as lightly as possible, knowing their conversation is clear as day and is filtering through the microphone. And it is in that pose that you remain, tucked uncomfortably into a tight ball with one arm squashed so your finger remains where it is, focusing extensively on keeping still.

You have a sudden thought that you can’t believe you haven’t been seen or noticed yet, and you know immediately that that thought alone will be your downfall. Sure enough, you shift minutely and the fabric of your suit rustles and fuck, the trolls stop talking, and you know it’s only a matter of time before they find you.

“Sollux,” you find yourself saying, barely audible. “I don’t think I’m going to make it out of this one.”

Your partner responds by a river of expletives that could be a worthy challenge to one of Karkat’s tirades, and you can’t help the faint smile that appears on your face as the trolls began to demand in Alternian that you come out of hiding.

“Hey.” The trolls whirl to face your location, though they can't see you yet, and their demands increase in volume. “If I don’t come back, just thought I should let you know that I – ” The words catch in your throat, Sollux falls silent, and you slowly get to your feet as you regain your composure _._ As the trolls make a move to come closer, you whisper,“I think I might love you.”

Your finger moves off of the comm, and you step out into the open after both of your hands go into the air, and the three trolls start speaking in fast-paced Alternian – most of which you can understand, but all of which was spoken so quickly you missed some of the words. Sollux’s voice is tight and controlled when he contacts you again.

“Strider, this is the worst place for confessions. Backup will arrive ETA ten minutes. Distract them for that long and you’re home-free.”

Aha, there’s hope you can rely on, _cling to it, Strider, only way you’re getting out of this_. “More like home-stuck,” you murmur to yourself, watching as the troll honcho removes a poleax from their sylladex and levels it at you. The two other trolls have yet to draw their weapons. You have some time, and like Sollux says, you’re good at bluffing, so you might as well give this a shot.

“You’re going to kill me just like that?” you ask in accented Alternian, and they all freeze because oh crap you can understand them. Every single troll you’ve talked with in their native tongue have reacted in the same way. “What, and not figure out who I am, who I work for, why I’m here? Some ringmasters you are.”

Sollux’s voice comes back to your ear.

“ETA forty five minutes,” he says quietly, and any hope you might have had is extinguished to a faint spark. “Your brothers have been informed their own missions are more important than your safety, and Karkat has no people who could actually stand a chance to help to spare right now.”

You refuse to let this information show to your captors (heh) and as such you show no sign of defeat. _Tall and proud, chest out, chin high_ , you think, just like your bro had taught you. Your sword is but a blink away, and it’s not like you couldn’t escape yourself. Sort of. If you could overpower three well-built highbloods, maybe, and then get out of the building without being seen, and you'd only get out of the lobby without problems if you didn't get blood on your suit which is nearly impossible given you use a sword and yep you are so screwed.

You sigh, both in resignation and in exasperation, as the troll tells you, “That’s not suspicious at all, human, quite honestly. But we’ll play your little game. Just remember your life is on the line.”

“No people, except me,” Sollux says, and you have to suppress the urge to say something back because you’ve never heard him talk like this, a tiny quiver in his speech and fear lacing his words, determination giving it a hard edge, “Give me five minutes, Strider, and keep talking.”

“Duly noted,” you say coolly to the trolls, keeping your hands raised - it's a struggle to keep them from quivering visibly, but you do your best. The poleax is actually kind of intimidating, made of reflective blue-black metal that glows with little dots like stars. “So, I’m human. Here’s my sigil. They call me Knight.” Truth, lie, truth, you show them a gear of red inked onto the flesh of your collarbone that isn’t a sigil but more of a keepsake, to the left and above your heart. “I’d be surprised if you’ve never heard of me.”

“Ah, yes, one from that infuriating line of medieval-themed hitmen,” one of the guest trolls says, a blueblood if you’re not mistaken. You have to resist snorting because the way he said it is accurate but also completely ridiculous. “Prince and King are your hatchmates?”

“Brothers,” you correct, not that it matters. Your voice almost shakes.

“I’m going to have to shatter the window,” Sollux says in your ear, and you listen to his voice and keep your fear even more in check. “I’ll tell you when to duck.”

“Brothers, hatchmates, same thing,” the blueblood says dismissively as you had predicted, and the head troll glares at him.

“What would happen if we killed you?” the other guest troll asks, an oliveblood.

“You idiot,” the head troll snarls at the oliveblood, turning her eyes on him now. “Did we not just establish he is related to both Prince and King? Killing him would bring their wrath upon _us_.”

“Eh, not really.” You shrug when they all turn to look at you, disbelieving. “I’m just one pawn on the chessboard, ain’t like they’ve got time to avenge little ol’ me.”

“Don’t play coy,” the head troll says flatly. “Everyone knows you and your _brothers_.” She says it like it’s the filthiest word she’s ever spoken. Coming from a troll’s viewpoint, and how they viewed sexual intercourse, maybe it actually is. “King is the strongest. Prince is the smartest. You are the fastest. Together you are all unstoppable. Your death would hardly go without a ripple, Knight.”

... You hadn’t known you and your bros had had that sort of reputation.

“ETA thirty seconds,” Sollux says, and you have to resist the urge to jump, startled.

“What about that troll he works with? Otelia reported to me just yesterday that he has been seen in the company of a powerful psionic,” the blueblood says.

Oh, hell, perfect timing. Fuck. You can see the moment when they all realize their shit is about to get wrecked unless they do something. Because of your compromised position, you stand still and hope they don’t do something.

Unfortunately, as your luck always seems to dictate, they do, and soon you are being dragged into the hallway, out of the office, up the stairs, and you suddenly realize the gravity of the situation when you arrive on the roof and the two guest trolls have your arms and wow, the ground’s a long way down.

“This,” you say very carefully, “Is a very tall building.”

“Incoming,” Sollux says, and you see a crackle of blue and red bust through the window five stories below. Your arms are constrained, and so you can’t contact him to tell him that you are being dangled off the edge of the roof with nary a way to save yourself. There’s sounds of tinkling and crackling, and then he says, more surprised than worried, “Where the fuck are you?”

“And _you_ are a very puny human,” the head troll says. You can hear her smirk even if you can’t see it.

“Weren’t you worried about my brothers, like, three seconds ago?” you ask. Your voice is calm and emotionless even as you know your words are a desperate plea for mercy.

“We can handle them. How many trolls do you think I have under my command?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“Of course you don’t, you’re lucky you even saw me face-to-face.” Her voice comes close to your ear, and her breath stirs the fine hairs there. “Remember the name Nayomi Relner, human. If you survive, that is.”

“Naomi?” you ask, purposefully butchering the name, and then you’re hurtling through the air towards the fast-coming sidewalk. You practically give yourself a concussion slamming your comm with the palm of your hand, and you watch the ground spiral closer and closer as your mouth moves a mile a minute.

“Sollux I am falling outside the building I am going to die the trolls literally dropped me off of the roof please come rescue me like goddamn troll Prince Charming or whatever if not then I will go splat and _I love you_ and leave a red mark on the ground but anyway I’m sorry for being a dick sometimes and I’m sorry for my brothers because they will no doubt beat you up I leave all of my worldly possessions to you okay.” You stop talking and lift you hand from your ear and count the seconds until impact. Four, three, two –

“ _Fuck_!”

You find yourself levitating on a bed of red and blue sparks, and it’s all you can do to let out a shuddery sigh of relief. You’ll be embarrassed about your ramble-rant-thing later.

“You are such an ass,” Sollux says, hovering next to you, but despite his words, you can tell he is just as relieved as you given his expression. His hands are outstretched, holding you up, and with a rush the terror you’ve been battling ever since the first excruciating moment of this experience escapes, leaving you trembling and weak. You have to take off your shades, shoving them into your hair, and hide your face with both hands as traitorous tears begin to sting your eyes. “You’re lucky I hadn’t left the room, _and_ also got what KK wanted us to in the first place.”

“Yes, I’m thankful, yadda yadda yadda,” you say, your words muffled by your palms. “Can I please put my feet on the ground.”

“Not yet. I’m just going to fly you back to base, because in case you’ve forgotten, there are still people after us.” You actually start whimpering when he begins to move, much to your eternal embarrassment, and Sollux seems to register that yes, you are actually in shock or something like it right now. “Oh. Uh. Would it be better if I did – you know what, no, I’m just gonna do it. No hard feelings, right.”

All of a sudden one arm is curled around your shoulders, another between the crook of your knees, and you are being carried _bridal-style_ while flying in _plain fucking view_ to headquarters. He even leans you in a little bit so your cheek is pressed against his chest, and you can feel his ribs through his shirt with your arm. It’s comforting and you don’t protest, instead looping an arm around him and cuddling closer. He hugs you tighter as a result.

Somewhere in the back of your mind you realize that everyone can see you and people are pointing and this is about as conspicuous as you could get.

You couldn’t care less.

* * *

As soon as you are set back on solid ground – well, the roof of headquarters, which was solid enough at any rate – you fall to your knees and slap your hands onto the surface, practically crying but not quite because you're desperate but not _that_ desperate.

“Never again,” you vow aloud to yourself, and then someone is crouching next to you and Sollux is moving your head with his hand so you’re looking at him. You forget how to speak as soon as he meets your eyes, throat dry as he pushes his glasses over his forehead. Haha, right. You’d told him you loved him. Multiple times. Whoops.

But then he’s the one who closes the distance between you, and then you are kissing. It’s definitely a weird thing – you’ve never actually kissed a guy before, let alone a troll, and you can feel how carefully he’s being with his fangs, how he (somewhat expertly, you'll admit) avoids cutting into your flesh, but also how that adds to the whole teeth-clacking experience. Yep. You’ve definitely had better kissing partners in the past.

On the other hand, you hadn’t actually wanted to kiss them all that bad. Instead of you taking the initiative to use tongue, you’re the one allowing his into your mouth.

Huh. Okay, maybe when he didn’t say anything back to you, you weren’t making as big a mistake as you’d thought.

When the door to the roof bursts open and a furious mutantblood boss stomps into view, you have your hands tangled in Sollux’s hair and his fingers are running up and down your back and yeah, you’re pretty much making out on the roof. The boss doesn’t even seem surprised at the fact neither of you actually pay attention to him right away, and he actually gives you a respectable amount of time to kiss it out before interrupting.

“Report, Strider, and make it snappy,” he snarls, and with some effort you break away and push your shades back over your eyes as you turn to look at him. Deep breaths, keep that blushing to a minimum, Strider, focus in. Sollux's hand stills on your back when Karkat snaps, “You’re right after him, Captor, so don’t get too into each other.”

“Yes, sir,” you say with a coy smile (you know everyone can see how shaky it is, how completely freaked out you are right now, argh), and the glare he gives you is the equivalent of smacking your shoulder. Sollux echoes your words, sniggering, which earns him the middle finger.

Still, you make the report, and Sollux makes his, and in the end Karkat leads you down to your quarters, ranting about broken rules and the danger you both put yourself into and the caution you should’ve taken, goddammit Captor, and _you_ , Strider, don’t even get me started – but you can tell he’s relieved you’re both alive. So are you, to be honest.

* * *

TT: I’ve heard you and Captor are doing the do.  
TG: uh  
TG: is that even possible what the hell does troll junk even look like  
TT: Oh. That’s boring. I was hoping you could tell me.  
TG: why got your sights set on some other stud  
TT: Perhaps.  
TG: cmon dirk you dont even use guns the least you could do was just go for the neck right away  
TT: I was joking.  
TG: laaaame  
TG: i dont believe you  
TT: You don’t have to.  
TG: is it equius  
TG: ha ha of course its equius you practically never shut up about robotics when youre together  
TT: Believe what you'd like.  
TG: imagine im doing the eyebrow wiggling thing egbert likes to do because thats what im doing right now  
TT: But just for clarity’s sake, you and Captor are a thing now. Yes?  
TG: yeah  
TG: for all hes an awful kisser with all those teeth of his  
TG: dont even get me started on those goddamn fangs good lord  
TG: anyway for all hes a bad kisser hes a cool guy and i like him  
TT: That’s good. Did you inform him that Bro and I would beat him to an inch of his life if he hurt you in any way, et cetera et cetera?  
TG: ha ha yeah you shouldve seen his face when bro came over and tried to get him to do the strider ritual  
TG: like the introductory one with the smuppets and lil cal and copious amounts of orange soda and aj  
TG: shit was hilarious wish i couldve gotten it on tape ive never seen someone abscond so fast  
TT: If he used psionics, tell him that’s cheating.  
TG: i just told him and he said using what you have to your advantage is not cheating  
TT: Touché.  
TT: You’re sure you’re happy, dude? Like, this isn’t a one-time deal like with the last ones, right.  
TG: yes  
TG: i am absolutely positive one hundred percent  
TT: Good.  
TT: That’s all I needed to hear.

“You know, your family’s not all that bad.”

You tilt your neck to the side, gently bopping your head against Sollux’s. You get a horn against your scalp for your trouble. “I never told you that they were.”

“You told me they were terrible and embarrassing and you hated them.”

“That does not mean the same as ‘all that bad’.”

“Right, and the sky is red.”

“Pretty sure it’s blue, babe. Colors like your eyes.”

“Dear god in heaven, do not call me babe.”

“Except in bed?”

You duck your head as he smacks the back of it, muttering expletives under his breath, and you can only think of how much you actually love him, shit's ridiculous. But you do, and you know he feels the same when you have to block a ninja star with your sword as you call out, "You know you like it."

It's the little things, you suppose, and you know you're going to be all right.


End file.
